March 2008/1

Rod Fox has teamed up with his former EW Blanch colleague Ted Blanch to launch a "private boutique" reinsurance broker provisionally called Alpha Re.

XL Capital added to fourth quarter losses arising from its relationship with troubled bond insurer Security Capital Assurance (SCA) in a Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) filing after close of markets Friday (29 February).

Robert Hiscox, a former deputy chairman of Lloyd's and one of the most strident voices in EC3, has called the reduction of only 2 percent in the Society's capacity for 2008 "disappointing".

Lloyd's insurer Chaucer Holdings plc has struck a deal to close Heritage Managing Agency Ltd's Syndicate 1245 into its own Syndicate 1084.

Warren Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, has warned insurers that the party is over and tougher times lie ahead regardless of what the weather does this year.

The appointment of Peter Zaffino as CEO and Britt Newhouse as chairman at Guy Carpenter marks a statement of intent by Brian Duperreault as he seeks to gather his senior lieutenants around him in New York...

Although Swiss Re reported only modest deterioration on its credit default swaps (CDS) as it booked a 9 percent fall in 2007 net income to SFr4.2bn last week, its disclosures on credit market exposure and its recent quota share deal...

Shares in American International Group (AIG) closed down 6.56 percent on Friday after the US insurance giant announced the biggest quarterly loss in its history driven by a $11.12bn pre-tax writedown in its financial products division, AIGFP.

Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty (AGCS) has set up a Global Discontinued Business division to handle its vast legacy business, The Insurance Insider has learnt.

Omega Insurance Holdings Ltd Lloyd's Syndicate 958 has withstood the impact of hurricanes Katrina Wilma and Rita to post a profit for 2005, maintaining its pedigree of a pure underwriting profit in every year it has traded since its launch in 1980.

Bermuda could be in line for an influx of financial guarantee reinsurers following the sub-prime mortgage crisis, according to The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA).

Losses from the global credit market crisis are set to top $600bn, with banks and brokers accounting for over half that figure, according to UBS analyst Geraud Charpin.